2020 PSLE Discussions and Strategies(for those born in 2008)

[Swc]

xueyan\" post_id=\"1998488\" time=\"1602467465\" user_id=\"6643:

I have the following questions for Secondary school education.

1. How many subjects are there in Secondary 1? Are they of equal importance? Or emphasis is still on English, Chinese, Science & Maths?
Besides the 4 you mentioned, the other 2 core subjects will be History and Geography. In addition, there will also be subjects like Food Studies, Art and Music. Many schools also offer subjects like Drama, Dance, Computer-related, Robotics, Environmental Studies, etc. Best is to look at the MOE booklet and look at the schools your child is interested in to get a detailed list of the subjects offered by the school.

2. I was told that if go to Normal Academic, for Sec 1 it will still be teaching P6 topics? Is it true?
Sorry, I have no idea for this.

3. What to expect in Secondary 2 as it is streaming?
Sec 1 and sec 2 are pretty similar in terms of the number of subjects.

In terms of streaming, most schools will brief the students sometime in August on streaming: the various subject combinations and the required grades for certain combinations

4. What materials do we use in secondary school? Do we still use top school test papers? These are not available online anymore?

You still can find past year papers of certain schools sold at those carts or available online for a nominal fee. But you won't get past year papers of IP schools.

5. For English composition in Secondary level, is it still the same style of writing ie show not tell, dialogue...

For Secondary, the students will be trained to write Personal Recounts, Narrative, Argumentative, Discursive essays. Each has it's own requirements and style.

Many thanks

[zac's mum]

Info about Normal Academic syllabus and lower sec subjects:


https://beta.moe.gov.sg/secondary/courses/normal-academic/

I don’t think NA students do P6 work. They still have to do the Sec 1 syllabus, same like all other Sec 1 students. The difference is that the examinable content will be less in NA, and even less in NT. It is similar to how Foundation Subject exams for P5, P6 only test ~60% of the Normal P5, P6 content.

Since now PSLE is over nothing to do, you may wish to kaypoh take a look at the secondary school syllabuses here: https://www.moe.gov.sg/education/syllabuses/

The child can also log in to his SLS, I recall there is access to other levels’ learning materials, quizzes, even those fun videos that teachers show during lessons. It is not limited to Primary school materials. You can even access Secondary school and JC materials. Have a browse to see what the next phase of schooling will entail.

(It’s a small link on the left sidebar of SLS called “MOE Library”).

[sharonkhoo]

The reason (I’m guessing!) that NA kids may seem to start with P6 work is that they probably have weak foundation. And teachers may be concerned to check their understanding of the foundation before continuing with new work. Most teachers do that at the beginning of the school year, but maybe not as much for kids who are more on top of their work.

[passioninlearning]

slmkhoo\" post_id=\"1998574\" time=\"1602548449\" user_id=\"28674:

The reason (I'm guessing!) that NA kids may seem to start with P6 work is that they probably have weak foundation. And teachers may be concerned to check their understanding of the foundation before continuing with new work. Most teachers do that at the beginning of the school year, but maybe not as much for kids who are more on top of their work.

To clarify, the syllabus for NA and Express is largely similar, though the extent of difficulty differs.

[tutormum]

From what I have gathered speaking to teachers and students (my own children and their teachers included), it depends on different schools and what the teachers deem fit.


Normal Technical stream
I tutored a sec 1 student from this stream years ago. The syllabus was similar to the P4 level.

NA stream
The syllabus is similar to Express stream except that it is taught at a slower pace. The students will sit for the Normal level in sec 4 and the better performers will proceed to take O levels in sec 5. In other words, they are given an extra year to prepare for their O levels. I was told by a teacher that it is more tough on a student in a NA stream than one who goes to the Express stream. Therefore, if your child is able to go to the Express stream it is better than opting for the NA stream. However, if the child is in a NA stream in a band 1 school, their progress is comparable to their peers in the Express stream in a band 2 school. I have heard of students who though made it to the Express stream in a band 2 school with their PSLE score, chose to go to the NA stream in a band 1 school. However, to be able to be transferred to the Express stream after their sec 1 final exams is not easy as only the top performers will be able to make it bearing in mind that the standard is high. If the same student goes to the NA stream in a band 2 school, the chances of being transferred to the Express stream is higher as the standard is lower compared to a band 1 school. By standard, I mean the pace of teaching as the syllabus is basically the same for all schools.

Express stream
Though students made it to the Express stream, the gap between the top scorers and the average scorers is very wide. For students in a band 1 school, they are taught at a faster pace and even cover some topics beyond their level for example, topics for sec 2 are taught near the end of sec 1 after the syllabus for sec 1 is completed. For a band 2 school, teachers do spend time going over topics that were learnt in primary school if the students are weak in them. Similarly for NA stream, the teachers may do the same. This is to better prepare them for their sec school syllabus.

I use band 1 and band 2 for easy illustration. Different schools have their own different teaching methods and practice.

For subject combinations, it depends on whether the subjects are offered by the schools and if there are enough students to form a class. If a student is deemed able, he will be allowed to offer additional subjects for O levels. Therefore, your child may not be able to offer the subjects he like for his sec 2 streaming and even have to take those that he doesn’t like.

I can only say that my DS3 didn’t have to buy any textbook as his school teachers will provide them with notes complied as textbooks. These notes are paid for at the beginning of each school year. For textbooks, if you want to save a bomb, you can go to BBC to get second hand ones which can cost half of the new ones. That is if your child doesn’t mind using used books. The store also sells new textbooks and sometimes you can even get new ones at a cheaper price. These are new books that are left too long on the shelves and grossed over by fussy buyers. You may also sell your used textbooks to them.

For 10 years series, the schools will be using them to prepare your child for their exams. If your child has tuition, the tutor will use them too.

As my DSs don’t have tuition and I only tutor primary school students, I am not familiar with sec school syllabus except for the subjects offered.

[passioninlearning]

With the exception of IP stream, the syllabus for Express and Normal Streams should be same across all schools, taking into consideration streaming milestones in sec 2.

[zac's mum]

Talking about sec 2 streaming, there is a very broad generalization that the Pure Science subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) are offered in “tier 1” Express schools, whereas “tier 2” Express students only have Combined Science options available to them. NA usually do Combined Sciences too.


Promotion criteria of want to transfer from NA to Express is set very high. I saw some schools websites indicated must score A1 in that NA subject then will be considered to upgrade to Sec 2 Express for that subject. Not sure about SBB schools, but I saw somewhere that now maximum can take only 3 higher stream (Eg Express) subjects for a lower (Eg NA) stream student.

[Dino]

tier 1 = schools that also offer pure sciences, in addition to combined science?

tier 2 = schools only have combined sciences?

[MerlionInGermany]

Ok, so i dont know which are tier 1 and tier 2 schools but it seems like schools such as Kuo Chuan and Deyi and Bowen have pure AND combined science, so I dont really think there are schools without pure science, prob just fewer students taking them but not zero. And then there are some schools that have only pure science.


So I guess it should be schools with pure science only and schools with pure and combined science.

[zac's mum]

Tier 1 tier 2 is my own naming system. Because there’s not even any Band 1 Band 2 official naming system any more.


Whatever you want to call them. Better schools versus not so good Express schools.

Like the top Express schools have several 3 pure Sciences classes, whereas ~200 COP Express schools may only have combined science available. At most 1 class having 2 pure sciences.